Rail-coupling.



No. 777,649. PATENTED DEC. 13, 1904. A. BARNES.

RAIL COUPLING.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. 30, 1904.

no MODEL.

Ao- 73mm 081/ 4/, mrow 7;) all] E 773% UNITED STATES Patented December 13, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

AMOS BARNES, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OE TWO-THIRDS TO WILLIAM BARNES, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

PAIL-COUPLING SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 777,649, dated December 13, 1904.

Application filed March 30, 1904:. Serial No, 200,665. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, AMOS BARNES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Rail- Oouplings; and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this speciiication.

This invention relates to railroad iisl1plates, and has for its object an improved fislrplate or railroad-rail coupling adapted to hold the two ends of two consecutive rails firmly and securely and to prevent the yielding or droping of one of said rails under the weight of the car as the Wheel reaches the end and just before it passes from the end onto the following rail.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective of the coupling. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the rails and an elevation of one of the couplings, showing that Side which lies toward the middle of the rail. In Fig. 2 the curvature of the upper face of a wedge-platenvhieh will be described, is exaggerated.

A and B indicate the two ends of two ordinary T-rails.

1 and 2 indicate two of the plates, which are provided with webs 3 and 4:, which engage against the webs 5 and 7) of the two rails A and B. Each of the plates is constructed with the web part 3 similar in shape and form to an ordinary fish-plate, with a foot-bearing plate 6 to engage over and bear upon the footflange of the rail, and with a hanger part 7, that hangs below the foot-flange of the rail and is inclined somewhat inward and underneath the rail. The hanger part 7 at its bottom edge is turned inward and upward, with a grooved or hooked part 8, that furnishes a groove for the engagement of a wedge-plate 9. The wedge-plate 9 has a width slightly greater than the distance between the bottom surface of the foot-flangeof the rail and the surface 10 of the bottom of the groove, and

its upper face is curved slightly, with the widest part at the middle along the length. of the wedge-plate. The hanging part 7 and the wedge-plate are provided with registering holes 11, 12, and 13, through which are passed bolts 21 and 23, and by means of the bolts the wedge-plate is drawn toward the hanging part 7 until the wedge-plate binds firmly between the grooved bearing at the bottom of the hanger and the bottom surface of the footflange. The curve along the upper edge of the wedge-plate should be only enough of a curve to insure clearance at the ends between the wedge and the rail and to insure that there will be an engagement at the middle part of the wedge notwithstanding any slight irregularities of construction that there may be either in the wedge or in the rail. The middle bolt 22 preferably passes through the hangers of both fish-plates and prevents the hangers from spreading. The holes through which this belt 22 passes are slightly oval. (The drawings exaggerate this feature.)

The plate 2, with its wedge 9, is symmetrical in all respects with the plate 1 and the wedge 9. The plates themselves are secured together with the web of the rail held between them by bolts 31., 32, 33, and 3 1-, similar in all respects to those in ordinary andv common use.

That I claim is 1. A railway-rail coupling, having in combination a plate provided with a bearing to engage against the web of a rail, a bearing to engage over the foot-flange of the rail, a hai'iging part provided with an inturned flange forming a bearing on the upper side of said flange, a wedge-plate engaging between Said bearing and. the foot-flange of the rail and adapted to oscillate on said bearing, bolts adapted to draw the top of the wedge-plate toward the hanger, substantially as described.

2. In a railway-rail coupling, in combination with a plate adapted to be bolted to the rail and provided with a hanger extending below the flange of the rail and terminating with means to engage under a wedging-plate, a wedging plate engaging the bearing of the coupling-plate and the foot-flange, and adapted to be drawn sidewise, and means for s0 ing the wedge-plate sidewise, substantially as drawing it sidewise, substantially as described. described. I0

3. In a coupling for railway-rails, in com- In testimony whereof I sign this specificabination with a plate provided with means for tion in the presence of two witnesses. securing it to a rail, and with means for sup- AMOS BARNES.

porting a wedge-plate, a wedge-plate bearing \Vitnesses: at its middle point and provided with means MAY E. KOTT, for clearance at its ends, and means for draw- CHARLES F. BURTON. 

